LISBON, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Portugal’s state holding company Parpublica said on Saturday it had received only three expressions of interest in a minority stake in flag carrier TAP, all from Europe’s largest airlines and none from outside the EU, falling short of government hopes.
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The deadline for airlines to formally express interest closed on Saturday at 1700 GMT.
Parpublica said in a statement it has until December 12 to assess whether the interested airlines meet the criteria, including at least one year of revenue above 5 billion euros in the last three years and financial capacity.
Non-binding offers are due by mid-March, followed by binding offers detailing price and a strategic plan for TAP. The privatisation is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.
TAP’s most attractive assets are its connections to Brazil, Portuguese-speaking African countries and the United States from its Lisbon hub, which the government wants to keep and expand.
Bernstein analysts valued TAP’s 44.9% stake at least 700 million euros ($810 million), based on a full airline valuation of 1.5 billion euros. They said this represents a roughly 25%–30% premium over European peers, justified by TAP’s strategic upside.
($1 = 0.8687 euros)
Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Toby Chopra
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